Marfa: West Texas ghost town doubles as desert oasis

By Norbergs     3/13/08 7:00pm

There's a fair chance you've never heard of the town of Marfa, Texas, population 2,121, approximately 600 miles west of Houston. But in certain circles, this small town is a big deal. In the 1970s, the artist Donald Judd, best known for his minimalist sculptures, purchased a former military fort in this then-unremarkable tumbleweed town and began transforming the grounds into what is today an art space for permanent and temporary exhibits and a home to a series of artists in residence. Around this compound, now known as the Chinati Foundation, has grown a veritable artistic and otherwise bohemian oasis in the West Texas desert. The Hotel Paisano, built in the 1930s, is Marfa's oldest claim to fame as part of the setting of the movie The Giant, starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. Despite its seeming anachronism, it still impresses with its Spanish villa-styled architecture and lush interior - the bar is as hopping as it was during the famous movie's filming and turns out a mean margarita, too. The only other bar recommended by locals was the lounge in Thunderbird Motel. Luckily, we ventured past its imposingly sketchy exterior, an unbroken concrete wall and unlit neon "lounge" sign, to find a surprisingly cool room, its high walls painted dark blue and covered in larger-than-life-sized portraits of Marfa locals. The "Snake Bite" sounded like an intriguing drink, but the bartender at the time was apparently only filling in for a friend and said that he frankly had no idea what was in it. This hang-up was amusing rather than annoying, and seemed to personify this quirky town's laid-back and welcoming spirit.

The few food options also did not fail to impress. In fact, the falafels served out of a silver food truck called the Food Shark, parked in the middle of the one-stoplight town, are the best I've eaten in this country. Organic sodas were the only kind found across town, and the quaint, book-lined breakfast place called the Brown Recluse served only fair trade and organic coffee from Big Bend Coffee Roasters, whose operations are located down the street. Both the Food Shark and the Pizza Foundation proudly declared that their produce was almost all local and organic.

Food and drink aside, the real meat of Marfa is its art scene. A dozen or so galleries are scattered amongst cracked and empty buildings with faded paint storefronts, the juxtaposition of old and new giving off an eerie yet appealing vibe. My friends and I were the only people wandering around on a Thursday afternoon, so intruding into the silent, empty galleries was a little intimidating. But it turned out my fears were groundless, as all the gallery employees were entirely friendly and inviting.

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Last but not least, the fountainhead of all this activity: The Chinati Foundation. The grounds are so vast that it takes two separate 1.5 to 2 hour-long tours to cover it, but the time is all well-spent. The main portion of the tours is comprised of the permanent installations by Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and John Chamberlain. Judd has filled two former artillery hangars with rows of titanium boxes. These installations are only shown on the 10 a.m. tour, and once you see the morning light shining onto the work, you can tell why. The metal is so reflective that at times it is impossible to tell what is the reflection and what is the reflected. Sometimes black and sometimes sun-bright, the light plays on the sculptures in ways you would never expect, seeming almost to bend the angular metal to smooth curves.

Judd conceived of this art compound primarily so he could permanently display this and a few other works in a completely perfect environment. The morning light, the desert scrub through the windows, the vast, austere space and the clear blue sky are as much a part of the piece as the sculptures themselves.

The other main installations, Flavin's light sculptures spread across six former barracks and Chamberlain's crushed cars dotted throughout a large warehouse downtown, are equally intriguing and impressive.

Set in a beautiful, big sky desert landscape, this part West Texas ghost town and part thriving art scene that is Marfa is most definitely a singular experience and well worth the trek to the middle of nowhere.

Ingrid Norbergs is a Baker College senior.

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